Biography

Coloratura soprano Sharleen Joynt has been praised for her "silvery, sparkling, substantial and resonant soprano" [Die Deutsche Bühne], her "scintillating high range, reminiscent of the most beautiful moments of Mady Mesplé" [Opernwelt], and "an artistic command that leaves the listener breathless" [Deutschland Radio].

For the 2018/2019 Season Sharleen makes her Opera Philadelphia debut as Winnie in Sky on Swings (Beecher),a new opera about Alzheimers starring Frederica von Stade. She makes her Vancouver Opera debut as Musetta in La Bohème and debuts with the Guelph Symphony, singing Glière’s Concerto for Coloratura, Op. 82. She debuts with the Charleston Symphony, singing the Soprano Solo in Handel’s Messiah, and makes her Ravinia Music Festival debut as Cunegonde in Candide.

For the 2017/2018 season, Sharleen returned to Pacific Opera Victoria for her first Musetta in La Bohème, and debuted with both Anchorage Opera and the Tanglewood Music Festival as Cunegonde in Candide. She was heard with the Bach Society of St. Louis as the soprano solo in Howard Goodall's requiem, Eternal Light, and returned to Theater Augsburg's Summer Concert Series to reprise Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute. During the 2016/2017 season, Sharleen joined the Orlando Philharmonic as Cunegonde for a concert staging of Candide, and performed Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute with Pacific Opera Victoria. She sang Mahler's Symphony No. 4 with the Thunder Bay Symphonyand joined the Victoria Symphony for their New Year's operetta gala.

In 2015/2016, Sharleen starred as Christine in the Canadian Stage and Soundstreams co-production and North American Premiere of Belgian composer Philippe Boesman’s Julie, based on the 1888 Strindberg play, “Miss Julie”, and as Galatea in Acis & Galatea, making her Opera Piccolo San Antonio debut. She also returned to Theater Augsburg's summer concert series for her Queen of the Night debut. The 2014/15 Season included her China debut, as Zerbinetta in Oper Leipzig's production—and the Chinese premiere—of Ariadne auf Naxos, and Blonde in Die Entführung aus dem Serail in Augsburg, Germany, in their summer concert series. She also performed Zerlina in Don Giovanni with Against the Grain Theatre, both in Toronto and with the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival.

Sharleen's 2013/14 Season included rejoining the Metropolitan Opera roster to cover Fiakermilli in R. Strauss' Arabella. She appeared with the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe (Marie, La Fille du Régiment; Adele, Die Fledermaus), Theater und Orchester Heidelberg (Oscar, Un Ballo in Maschera), and made her Swiss debut with the Theater St. Gallen (Zerbinetta, Ariadne auf Naxos). She was also nominated for the prestigious “Der Faust” prize, awarded by the German Stage Association, for her performance in Wolfgang Rihm's Dionysos. For the 2012/13 Season Sharleen spent her second year as an ensemble member of the Theater und Orchester Heidelberg, performing Blonde in Die Entführung aus dem Serail and receiving critical acclaim for her role of Soprano 1/Ariadne in Wolfgang Rihm's Dionysos. She also made both a role and theater debut with the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe as Marie in La Fille du Régiment. Her uncommonly honest embodiment of characters and fearless onstage presence in German Regietheater led to a 3-page article in the May 2013 issue of Deutsche Bühne magazine.

The 2011/12 Season included joining the Theater und Orchester Heidelberg ensemble for Frasquita in Carmen and her vastly critically acclaimed Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, the role for which she was nominated for Nachwunschsängerin (Young Singer of the Year) by Opernwelt magazine. She also debuted with the Winter in Schwetzingen Baroque Festival as Fausta in the German premiere of Scarlatti's Marco Attilio Regolo. Sharleen's 2010/11 Season included joining the Metropolitan Opera roster to cover the role of Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos. She joined the Anhaltisches Theater Dessau ensemble, making her European debut as Oscar in Un Ballo in Maschera, followed by Adele in Die Fledermaus, and Despina in Cosi Fan Tutte. She also appeared with the International Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv to perform Zerbinetta under the baton of Metropolitan Opera conductor Paul Nadler.

For the 2009/10 Season she was an Emerging Artist with Calgary Opera. Sharleen made her Carnegie Hall debut singing the soprano solo in Schubert's Mass in G in 2009, the same year she graduated from Mannes College of Music in New York with her Masters degree in Vocal Performance. She has been a prizewinner in the Liederkranz Foundation Competition, the George London Foundation Competition, the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, the Licia-Albanese Foundation Competition, the Canadian Music Competition's International Stepping Stone, and the Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition.

"The singers are extremely well chosen. Sharleen Joynt, a petite woman with a spiky presence, tosses off Christine’s coloratura with marvelous assurance." —Michael Johnson, Concerto Net

"I loved Sharleen Joynt's Christine. She was funny, and she was the source of sanity in this bizarre story. Boesmans writes for Christine fierce coloratura and lyric lines that are impossibly high; I was thrilled that this role showed off so much of Joynt's extraordinary skill. In all of her vocal extremes, she kept the sound beautiful and she prioritized text. We felt as though we already knew Christine, and I found myself on her side." —Jenna Douglas, Schmopera

"Sharleen Joynt is a gorgeous Zerlina, with a voice full of power and control that is by turns seductive and serene." —Robert Harris, The Globe and Mail

"Zerlina is subtly portrayed by a singer new to me; New York-based Ottawa native Sharleen Joynt... She has a lovely voice, too. It's accurate and full and has a really interesting timbre; not exactly dark, not exactly light; coppery, perhaps?" —John Gilks, Opera Ramblings

"Sharleen Joynt's mischievous, uninhibited Zerlina enchants. Mozart invests his spunky romantic explorer with some of the loveliest in all opera. Joynt sails through the sumptuous music with a breezy, winning attack, silky and sunlit." —Ian Ritchie, Opera Going Toronto

"Overall, the most consistently outstanding performances come from Miriam Khalil as Elvira and Sharleen Joynt as Zerlina. In both cases, the sheer beauty of vocal production – the lovely dark tones of Khalil and the shimmering brightness of Joynt – overcame the satirically colloquial nature of Ivany’s libretto." —Christopher Hoile, Stage Door

Oscar // Un ballo in Maschera (Theater und Orchester heidelberg)

“Sharleen Joynt was charming and sprightly in the trouser role of Oscar, and sang with razor-sharp coloratura.” —Eckhard Britsch, Opernnetz

“Sharleen Joynt, as a clearly feminine Oscar, charmed with her excellent voice: lightness and clarity, secure and reliable, with very clean coloratura.” —Matthias Roth, Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung

“Sharleen Joynt was a very convincing Oscar, here obviously in love with Riccardo. Not only was her acting variegated and her coloratura virtuosic, but her Oscar was seductively androgynous, somehow between Catwoman and Boy.” —Stefan Dettlinger, Mannheimer Morgen

"Karlsruhe struck gold with the casting of young Canadian soprano Sharleen Joynt as Marie – she's charming, flirtatious, and brings a lightness of touch as well as a beautiful voice to the role." —Eckhard Britsch, Opernnetz

"The young Canadian soprano Sharleen Joynt, from Heidelberg's ensemble, displayed strong stage presence, perfect technique, and sparkling coloratura in the role of Marie. The opera world is surely looking at a great talent." —Christoph Wurzel, Online Musik Magazin

“Particularly outstanding was Sharleen Joynt as the 1st High Soprano and Ariadne. She has mastered the exchange between the highest highs and lowest lows perfectly. Her voice remained consistently clear and fexible.” —Jelena Rothermel, Operapoint

"And how could one better cast the role of Ariadne than with the phenomenal Sharleen Joynt, who fulflls all of Rihm's extreme requirements effortlessly." —Jörn Florian Fuchs, Deutchlandradio

ZERBINETTA // ARIADNE AUF NAXOS (THEATER UND ORCHESTER HEIDELBERG)

Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos // Anna Peshes as Componist

(Translated from German)

“Young Canadian Sharleen Joynt as Zerbinetta is the highlight of the production. She combines technical command with spirited acting and a love for taking risks and will certainly soon enchant audiences way beyond Heidelberg with her attractive voice whose scintillating high range is reminiscent of the most beautiful moments of Mady Mesplé.” —Claus Ambrosius, Opernwelt

“The most remarkable feature about Heidelberg's Ariadne is Sharleen Joynt's big solo: the cheekiness of the leader of the commedia dell'arte group transported into the 20th century culminates in an aria about extreme experiences of exalted love, delivered with an artistic command that leaves the listener breathless. Soprano Sharleen Joynt's Despina in Dessau carried great conviction - her Zerbinetta kindles enormous enthusiasm.” —Frieder Reininghaus, Deutschlandradio Kultur

“Zerbinetta was cast with a singer from the house, and Sharleen Joynt sang her role with a secure soprano that carried well delivering a performance of breathtaking vocal accuracy.” —Uwe Marcus Rykov, European-News-Agency

“But this Zerbinetta is the absolute highlight! Not for a long time has the opera stage seen a Zerbinetta of such power, virtuosity and security as in Sharleen Joynt's performance. The audience voiced its appreciation with a show-stopping XL-ovation. She is a discovery that will be noticed in many places and probably heard very soon at larger theaters.” —Joachim Lange, Online Musik Magazin

“Coloratura Sharleen Joynt delivers a breathtaking Zerbinetta, and has already covered the role at the Metropolitan Opera New York and sung it in Tel Aviv. What a voice! Effortless, smooth, capable of great dynamic differentiation, always perfectly controlled and yet completely natural - her intonation is crystal clear, as evidenced when she meets the orchestra with spot-on precision after her extended solo cadenza: a world class singer in Heidelberg's ensemble!” —Matthias Roth, Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung

“The pretty Canadian coloratura Sharleen Joynt already wowed the audience with her coquette portrayal in the prologue. In the second part, her big aria, sung with admirable commitment, earned her an ovation that stopped the show for several minutes.” —Udo Pacolt, Der Neue Merker

“And these singers are quite a sensation. What other theatre this size could possibly cast Zerbinetta from its ensemble? Sharleen Joynt sings this daunting role with a silvery, sparkling, substantial and resonant soprano. She nails her top notes with dazzling accuracy and navigates the aria's many diffculties with skill and artistry. Hers is clearly a well-crafted performance that exudes vocal brilliance and is distinguished by a scintillating stage presence. “ —Detlef Brandenburg, Die Deutsche Bühne

"Sharleen Joynt is the new coloratura in Heidelberg and introduced herself brilliantly with extremely intensive and virtuosically shaped singing and an attractive voice capable of profound expression." —Rainer Koehl, Darmstadt Echo